Monday Missive

October 26, 2009

Kudos

Holmes Finch and colleague Rob Bell had a paper "Pre-putt routines and putting outcomes" accepted to the Journal of Sport Behavior.

Jennifer Cross (Graduate of doctoral program in Educational Psychology) and Kathryn Fletcher had two papers accepted for presentation at the Society for Research on Adolescence: "Perceived parent responsiveness and demandingness are associated with adolescent crowd affiliation" and "Crowd affiliation and adolescent opposition to equality: Comparing results from multiple affiliations and single crowd membership." The second paper is part of their symposium entitled "A New Look at Adolescent Crowds: Research Using Nontraditional Approaches to Crowd Identification"

Kristen Williams (Graduate of doctoral program in Educational Psychology) and Sharon Paulson had a paper accepted for presentation at the Society for Research on Adolescence "Predicting College Attendance: An Examination of Individual and Family Factors"

Sandy Hellyer has had two papers accepted for presentation at international conferences.  The first "An interdisciplinary/developmental approach to defining and teaching for critical thinking" will be presented at the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at Cambridge University, England.  The other "Overcoming egocentric and sociocentric thought:  From knowledge to commitment" will be presented at the International Conference on Learning in Hong Kong.

Department Matters

The Educational Psychology Core Committee met this past week to discuss changes to the doctoral program in Educational Psychology, policies for evaluating doctoral students, and policies and procedures for completing comprehensive exams and dissertation proposals. Currently, the Core is working on developing a handbook for faculty and students that will outline all of the policies.

The Curriculum Committee should expect recommendations for revisions to the doctoral program in Educational Psychology soon. Also, revisions to the Minor in Human Development and proposals for a couple of new certificate programs are in process. Our goal is to have all proposed curricular changes forwarded to the College by the end of the semester.

The Policy and Planning Committee is reviewing all current departmental policies. Recommendations for changes to any of the policies will be forwarded to all members of the faculty in the next couple of weeks. Our goal is to have 2010-2011 policies updated and approved by the end of November.

Information regarding organization of tenure materials was sent last week to all faculty moving through the tenure process. Pay particular attention to the information that must be forwarded to the Dean's office. If you have any questions about the new requirements, please see me or Jerrell Cassady.

You recently received assignments to participate in the teaching evaluations of one or more of your colleagues. Please work with your colleagues to arrange dates for class observations or to exchange materials for review. If you have a time conflict with a class that you have been asked to review, please let me know. If you have any other questions about these requests, please see me.

Thanks to Serena Shim, KC Bronk, and Kathryn Fletcher for volunteering to be faculty marshals and banner carrier for December commencement. Remember, also, that University policy requires that we have a portion of our faculty present for each commencement (we typically ask each faculty member to attend at least one of the three commencement ceremonies each academic year). If you have not attended commencement in a few semesters, you may want to consider representing our department in December.  Thanks.

Attendance Policies

Everyone should have received information sent from the Provost's office regarding attendance policies during the H1N1 flu season. If you have any questions about how to handle individual student cases, please do not hesitate to chat with me.

Terhune Professional Development Fund (Travel Funds)

The next deadline for tenure-line faculty to apply for Terhune Professional Development Funds is November 1st.  If you have received notification that you have been accepted to present at a national or international conference and need travel supplemental support, you are eligible to apply. If you have questions or need another copy of the application materials, please talk to Sharon Paulson or Serena Shim (department representative to the Terhune Fund committee).

United Way Campaign

The annual United Way Campaign is in full swing.  You should have received your contribution materials a couple of weeks ago.  Please return your forms to our United Way Team Captain, Jerrell Cassady,  as soon as possible.  It is preferred that you return the form even if you choose not to contribute this year. Thanks to Jerrell for his service to this worthy cause.


I hope I have not forgotten anything; if so, please let me know.  
Don't forget to forward to me any information you may have for future Missives.

Have a great week!
Sharon (and Lisa)